1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a system and method for determining vehicle-specific settings for a user of a vehicle. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for determining vehicle-specific settings for a user of any vehicle model by translating pre-determined normalized position settings to the vehicle-specific settings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems have become increasingly integrated with people""s day-to-day lives. For example, many people keep their calendars electronically on a computer system. Another example is sending notes electronically as email rather than using postal or courier services. Computer technology has also improved consumer banking. Consumers can now transfer money and pay bills electronically without having to write and deliver checks. Even telephone systems are increasingly computerized with computers interfacing with telephone systems and configuring the telephone according to the user""s preferences. Telephone control may even reside in the user""s personal computer.
Computer automation has also proliferated to peoples"" automobiles. For example, many people have computerized automobiles that can automatically perform functions for their primary users. These automobiles can store profiles of their primary users and adjust seat and mirror positions for a user that selects his specific profile. While this technology benefits a user of a specific automobile, it becomes useless in those situations where the user must use a different automobile. For example, it might become necessary for the user to rent a car, which would not have the user""s profile stored on the rental car""s computer system.
Attempts have been made to provide a means for carrying user profiles to other automobiles besides the primary automobile of a user. For example, key fobs and smart cards have been used to transport user profiles to different automobiles. A limitation of this current art is that a user profile for a specific automobile brand and model cannot be used to achieve the same results in a different brand and model. The second automobile might not be programmed to perform the same functions as the primary automobile. The two automobiles also might contain different types of components. In this case, adjustments made to the settings of the components in the second automobile would be improperly based on a user profile created from the primary automobile""s settings. The resulting settings in the second automobile would thus be incompatible with the user""s preferred settings in the primary automobile. As such, the user would be required to make further adjustments to the settings in the second automobile before beginning its operation.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method for determining the settings for a user of a vehicle brand and model different than the user""s primary vehicle brand and model. A system and method is desired that is capable of automatically adjusting the position settings of the components in any vehicle brand and model selected by the user. Such a system and method would enable a user to more easily adapt to rental cars and other occasional use vehicles.
A system and method have been developed for determining vehicle-specific settings for a user of a vehicle. This invention contemplates using normalized position settings, or alternatively, normalized user measurements in a reference vehicle to adjust the position settings of the components in any vehicle brand and model. The normalized settings and user measurements provide references to be used in determining the settings for a specific user of a specific vehicle. The normalized settings and user measurements are saved onto storage media, e.g., smart cards or key fobs to create a xe2x80x9cuser profilexe2x80x9d on the storage media.
Vehicle users can transport the storage media so that their user profiles may be applied to all different models and brands of vehicles. In this manner, the components in vehicles other than the user""s primary vehicle, e.g., rental cars, business cars, and other occasional-use vehicles can be adjusted automatically to settings that are appropriate for the user. The invention therefore enables a user to change vehicles without having to take the time to re-adjust the vehicle settings.
In an embodiment of the invention, a system and method for determining the settings for a user of a vehicle is provided. The invention contemplates reading normalized position settings from a storage medium, such as a smart card. Translation algorithms are then retrieved from the current vehicle. The normalized position settings are thereafter translated to vehicle-specific settings using the translation algorithms. Signals are then sent to move the vehicle components to the vehicle-specific settings.
According to another embodiment, a system and method is provided for determining normalized position settings for use across different vehicle models. A user first sits in a vehicle and adjusts the vehicle components to the user""s preferred settings, i.e., vehicle-specific settings. The vehicle-specific settings are retrieved from sensors positioned on the components of the vehicle. Next, the translation algorithms for the vehicle are read, and the vehicle-specific settings are translated to normalized position settings based on the translation algorithms. The normalized position settings are then stored to storage media that may be carried to other brands and models of vehicles for use in determining the appropriate settings in those vehicles.
In yet another embodiment, a system and method is provided for determining normalized user measurements for use across all brands and models of vehicles. When the user sits in a vehicle, sensors included with the vehicle can measure the user""s attributes, e.g., height, weight, arm length, leg length, and torso length. These measurements can be retrieved and stored to the storage media as normalized user measurements. The vehicle-specific settings for any brand and model of vehicle may be determined based on the normalized user measurements. In this manner, the components of a vehicle may be adjusted based on the user""s attributes.
The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the present invention, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth below.